Unit VII a midsummer night's dream «kupalle»

1. Pay attention to these words. Pick out sentences with these words from the text and translate them into Russian:

«Kupalle» - «Купалле» (бел.);

midsummer - летнее солнцестояние;

God Yarila - бог Ярила;

Midsummer Day - Иванов день;

fern-flower - папараць-кветка (бел.)

2. Read out the following words and memorize their meaning:

solstice (n) ['salstis] солнцестояние

bonfire (n) ['banfaiə] костёр

downstream (n) ['daun'stri:m] (вниз) по течению

dawn (n) [dэ:n] рассвет

evil (n) [i:vl] зло

defeat (v) [di'fi:t] побеждать,

разбивать

witch (n) [wit] ведьма

wizard (n) ['wizəd] колдун

herb (n) [hз:b] трава

coronet (n) ['karənet] венок

weave (v) [wi:v] плести

search (n) [s3:t] поиск

fern (n) [fз:n] папоротник

purification (n) ['pjuərifi'kein]очищение

reassert (v) [ri:ə'sз:t] подтверждать

revive (v) [n'vaiv] возрождать

identity (n) [ai'dentiti] принадлежность

intended (adj) [in'tendid] наречённый,

суженый

3. Read out these phrases several times till you remember their meaning:

at dawn - на рассвете;

young and old - стар и млад, все;

love potion - приворотное зелье;

as the old legend says - как гласит старая легенда;

to fish out of - вылавливать из;

by now - к настоящему времени

4. Match the English words and their Russian equivalents:

1. fern а. костёр

2. bonfire b. плест

3. ^{dawn с. принадлежность, индивидуальность}

4. ^reassert d. папоротник

5. ^{weave e. подтверждать}

6. coronet f. поиск

7. ^{revive g. рассвет}

8. solstice h. Возрождать

9. search i. солнцестояние

10. identity j. венок

5. Make sure you know all the words in the box. Then read their definitions and match the words with their definitions:

• woman said to use magic, especially for evil purposes;

• either time at which the sun is farthest North or South of the equator;

• overcome; win a victory over;

• flowers or leaves twisted or woven together into a circle (won on the head as a garland);

• feathery, green-leaved flowerless plant;

• dose of liquid medicine used in magic;

coronet, fern, love potion, downstream, search,

bonfire, solstice, dawn, reassert, young and old, weave, witch,

wizard, herb, defeat

• magician;

• everyone;

• down the river;

• make garlands;

• plant whose leaves and seeds are used in medicine;

• large fire made outdoors, either to celebrate some event or to burn up dead leaves rubbish, etc.;

• the first light of day;

• reaffirm;

• act of looking carefully for.

6. Read the text and get ready to speak about «Kupalle»:

A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM: «KUPALLE»

As it is known, the sun in its annual cycle passes through two very important points - winter solstice (which is connected wit the holiday of Kalyady) and summer solstice (which is connected with another traditional holiday). People used to celebrate the Midsummer Day holiday on June, 25. But nowadays, since most Belarusians belong to the Orthodox Church, the holiday is celebrated on the night of July, 7 in accordance with the Orthodox calendar and is called «Kupalle». We must admit that it is one of the most mysterious holidays in Belarus.

There are a lot of legends and customs connected with this magic holiday. According to one of them there is a constant struggle between good and evil (or symbolically, between dark and light) in our soul. And on the day when the sun achieves its highest point (as if reaching its heavenly throne to rule the world of light), the dark forces become very active, especially at night. People try to help the forces of light and themselves to defeat the evil witches and wizards. They light bonfires, dance and sing songs around them.

According to another legend God Yarila is marrying the Earth on this day. That's why a lot of customs and traditions are associated with love. Girls gather flowers and weave coronets which they wear at the holiday and then, at dawn, they throw their coronets into the river and let them float downstream. The boy who fishes the coronet out of the water will be that girl's intended. It is the best time to gather herbs for medicine and love potions. At night, young and old light bonfires not far from their village or town and perform traditional dances, sing folk songs and jump over the fire. Jumping over the fire when it is burning low, as well as bathing (usually naked) in a river or lake are supposed to be the acts of purification. One of the culminating moments of the event is the search for a magic fern-flower in the forest. As the old legend says this flower blossoms only once a year, on «Kupalle», and the one who is lucky to find it will master the language of grass, trees, birds and animals and be happy for the rest of his life. No wonder that a lot of young boys md girls spend hours in the search for the fern-flower in blossom, which is also a symbol of love.

Dozens of splendid folk songs were composed to celebrate this jolly holiday but unfortunatelly a lot of them have been forgotten by now. The holiday has been widely featured inthe Belarusian literature and works of art. It lives on the Belarusian soil as if it were a living reminder of our past and our hope for a better future.

It's great that in the endeavour to reassert their national identity young people are eager to revive the national customs and traditions